Regional Focus
COMPILED BY JENNIFER JETT PREZKOP
Marshall Graduate Chosen for Inaugural Impact WV Fellowship
Marshall University alumnus and Putnam County native Jacob Howell has been chosen as one of eight recipients of the first class of Impact WV fellows.
The fellowship, a yearlong, paid opportunity that pairs students with local nonprofits, is designed to attract young talent to stay and work in West Virginia by partnering them with companies throughout the state. This is the first year the fellowship has been offered.
As part of the fellowship, Howell will work with Core 10, a financial technology company based in both Huntington, WV, and Nashville, TN.
“ I’ m grateful we now have this fellowship to help create career opportunities in the state and be a positive example of what West Virginians can accomplish,” says Howell.
Black Draft Distillery Releases First Batch of Straight Bourbon Whiskey
The first distillery in the Eastern Panhandle since prohibition released its first batch of aged straight bourbon whiskey to the public this summer. The bourbon, produced by Black Draft Distillery, fulfilled a dream of owners Glen and Tara Price to expand the hand-crafted distillery into markets throughout the state of West Virginia and into the neighboring markets of the Baltimore-Washington area.
“ After two long, patient years, we are finally here and ready to take our place in shining a spotlight on West Virginia and its historical craft of whiskey making,” says Tara.
The distillery is also barreling its first batch of bourbon in barrels made from one of their cooperages with 100 percent American White Oak sourced locally in West Virginia. It hopes to incorporate a West Virginia made bottle into the final product of this small batch, known as Distillers’ Select, for a true grain to barrel to bottle West Virginia hand-crafted bourbon.
Spilman Receives 2017 Legal Aid Pro Bono Award
Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC recently received Legal Aid of West Virginia’ s( LAWV) 2017 Law Firm Pro Bono Award. Spilman was recognized for its significant pro bono service to LAWV clients in 2016.
“ We are honored to receive this award from Legal Aid,” says Michael Basile, Spilman’ s managing member.“ It’ s reflective of our longstanding commitment to pro bono work and our recruiting of attorneys who are community-minded.”
In 2016, Spilman lawyers handled more than 20 cases for LAWV, ranging from giving basic legal advice to pro se clients to providing full representation in protective order and divorce cases.
Concord University’ s Master of Education Program Ranked Among the Best Online Graduate Programs
Concord University’ s master of education program has been named in the 2017 edition of U. S. News & World Report’ s Best Online Graduate Education Programs rankings. Of the 200 programs ranked in the report, Concord is tied for a ranking of 113.
Institutions were ranked by U. S. News & World Report based on five general categories: student engagement, student services and technology, admissions selectivity, faculty credentials and training and peer reputation.
WWW. WVEXECUTIVE. COM SUMMER 2017
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